Golf practice device



Dec 25, l962 w. BRINATI ETAL 3,070,372

'GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE Filed Oct. 23, 1961 @y FROST VANnENBurzeHygZgs.

3,970,372 @GLF PRACTIQE DEVHCE William Brinat and Louis J. Syivester,Elmwood Parli, Ill., assignors to Putt-Er-Up Enterprises, inc., Chicago,lll., a corporation of illinois Filed Oct. 23, 1961, Ser. No. 146,786 2Claims. (Cl. 273-17@ 'The present invention relates to a device for usein the game of golf and more particularly it relates to a device to beutilized in practicing a putting approach to the cup.

Development of the prop-er putting technique in the game of golf is oneof the most important elements of the game itself. The ability to putt agolf ball well is one of the most effective means available to golfenthusiasts to reduce the total number of strokes required for -tl'remto traverse the conventional 18-hole play. Approximately 30% to 60% ofthe average golfers total number of strokes are accumulated in putting4the golf ball into the cup. With such a large percentage of the tota-lnumber of strokes concentrated on this one short portion of the game, itis readily seen that a little concentration and practice upon properputting techniques can help lto improve a golfers game and therebyreduce his total score.

In the normal playing of a game of golf there, of course, is little ifany time to practice any specific phase of the game since the playrequires attention to all facets thereof. The golf enthusiast maypractice driving on any of a number of driving ranges commonly availableor he may use practice balls which, when struck, travel only a veryshort distance, and thus practice driving within the confines of his ownproperty.

The practice of putting, however, is difficult to simulate on anindividuals own property. A golf green, upon which ones putting is donein a game, is a very special and expensive surface to produce andmaintain. Normally, the cost of reproduction of such a putting surfaceon ones own lawn renders such installation prohibitive. Furthermore,without the careful installation of such a putting green and the verycareful maintenance thereof one cannot satisfactorily duplicate thesurface and thereby adapt a conventional lawn for such practice.

A desirable smooth surface is found in putting on a rug or carpet.Practice on such surfaces, however, is not entirely satisfactory sincepeculiarities of approach often realized on many different puttinggreens cannot be simulated and thus much of the ability to develop atechnique adaptable to a variety of approaches to the cup can not bedeveloped. Additionally, the conventional drop into a cup, such as isexperienced on golf greens, is not available on a carpeted surfaceAAccordingly, the present invention is directed to a device that may beplaced on any suitable flat putting surface, said device having a numberof different approaches to a depressed cup portion so that a golfer maydevelop a more general technique to different approaches.

it is, therefore, a general object of the present invention to providean improved device which may be utilized on any at surface as a puttingpractice device.

lt is an additional object of the present invention to provide animproved putting practice device having varying surface conformationsdefining raised and depressed areas, each of the depressed areas leadingto a recessed cup portion.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improvedputting practice device that is light in weight and takes up littlespace, thereby making it readily and conveniently portable for the mosteicient use.

It is an additional object of the present invention to provide animproved putting practice device having varying surface conformationsthereon to simulate varying States atom 3,070,372 Patented Dec. 25, 1962fic appended claims. Our invention itself, however, together withfurther objects and advantages thereof will best be understood byreference to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan View of the putting practice device of thepresent invention, showing, in plan, the depressed area simulating thecup on a putting green and the varying approaches to said depressedarea;

FIGURE 2 is an elevation view, partly in section, taken along lines 2-2of FIGURE l, illustrating the varying conformations in greater detail;and

FIGURE 3 is an elevation view partly in section, taken along lines 3 3of FIGURE l, illustrating the depressed area in greater detail.

Referring now to FIGURES l to 3 in greater detail, the putting practicedevice of the present invention is indicated generally at 1t). A baseportion 12 defining a anged area surrounds the lower por-tion of theputting practice device 10.

An elevated portion or lobs, indicated generally at 14, generallycircular in outline, rises from the base portion 12 in gradually slopingfashion to a preferred height at the top ridge 16 thereof ofapproximately 21/2 to 2% inches. A second elevated portion or lobe,indicated generally at 18, is integrally joined to lobe 14 by anintermediate raised portion, indicated generally at 20. The elevatedportions, including the lobes 14 and 18 and the intermediate portions20, are approximately at the same level above the base 12. It will bereadily appreciated that a golf ball can be driven from one point toanother on a conventional level carpeted surface, or the like, with lessstriking force and greater ease than that required for rolling a golfball over the same distance on a grass-covered putting green. It is verylikely that an individual practicing putting upon such a carpetedsurface will unconsciously develop a substantially weaker stroke than isactually required in putting a golf ball on a slower grass-coveredputting green. Thus, practice of this nature, while it does tend todevelop the directional abilities of a golfer on a straight and levelapproach to the cup, nevertheless does not lend itself adequately to anappreciation or refinement of the power needed to deliver the ball fromone point to the next on a grass-covered surface. The elevated portionsof the putting practice device of the present invention require that theball be struck with greater striking force than that required for simplyrolling the ball across a conventional carpeted surface in that adequateforce must be imparted to the ball to enable it to climb the slopedfaces of the elevated portions. Thus, it will Ibe appreciated that theputting practice device 10 of the present invention will not onlydevelop the directional abilities of the practicing golfer but also willtend to compensate for the differential in striking force required todrive a ball the same distance over a conventional carpeted surface andover a grasscovered green.

A depression 22 is formed in the central area of the lobe 14, the upperlip 24 of the depression 22 merging into the top ridge 16 at a planeslightly below the terminal of said ridge. The depression 22 is providedto simulate the recessed cup in the conventional golf putting green intowhich cup the ball must be directed to terminate play on each hole. Thedepression 22 is substantially the same diameter as the cup diameter ona conventional putting green.

An elongated recess 26 extending continuously from the top ridge 19 ofthe lobe 18 through the intermediate portion 29 to the depression 22 isincluded to serve as a guiding channel for a golf ball. The recess 26intersects a recess 23 at the intersection of the sloping face of thelobe l and the top ridge portion 19. The top ridge portion 19 has aslight depression, as shown in FIGURE 2, at the line of intersection ofthe recess 23 and the recess 26 to thereby provide a continuous guidingchannel for a golf ball from the base 12, throughV recesses 26 and 28,to the depression 22. Thus, a ball struck at the central portion of therecess 28 will enter said recess and, if it possesses the requiredmomentum to move up and along the sloping face of the recess 28, willpass along the recessed portion 26 and into the depresion 22. Any ballthat is not aimed at the approximate central area of the recess 28 willvery likely be diverted away from the device 10 by the curved facesthereof and will not enter the depression 22.

A second recess 3f) is provided on one sloping face of the intermediateportion 20. The recess 30 generally intersects the elongated recess 26and provides a guiding channel for a golf ball from the base 12 to thedepression 22.

A third recess 32 is provided in the sloping face of the lobe 14 andterminates in a depression in the top ridge 16. The recess 32 also formsa guiding channel to the depression 22 for a golf ball struck at itsapproximate central area.

An additional recess 34 is formed in the sloping face of theintermediate portion 20. The recess 34 intersects the elongated recess26 where said recess 26 passes through the intermediate portion. A ballstruck at approximately the central area of the recess 34 will, if itpossesses the requisite momentum, move up and along said recess and intothe channel 26. It will be readily seen that careful attention must begiven to the power with which the ball is struck since said ball rnustbe diverted approximately 90 from its initial direction of travel up therecess 34 into the recess 26 and thus into the depression '22. If theball is struck with too much force, it will very likely move up therecess 34, into recess 26 and directly thereacross into the recess 3?.whereupon it will subsequently be directed away from the depression 22and away from the practicing device 10.

It should be noted that the most satisfactory method of directing a golfball into the depression 22 is to strike it into one of the recesses 28,30, 32 or 34, whereupon said ball will move along said recesses and intothe depression. If the ball should hit any other area of the practicedevice 10, it is very likely that it will be directed away from thedevice by the sloped and curving faces of the elevated portions thereof.If the ball is struck with sufficient force to move it up and along anarea of the sloping face of the elevated portions that is not defined byone of the aforementioned recesses, it is also very likely that it willbe diverted from the depression 22 due to its erratic behavior uponentering one of said recesses at the improper angle or upon striking oneof the top ridges of the practice device.

The putting practice device of the present invention is preferablyformed of polystyrene material. It should be noted, however, that thepractice device may be formed from polyvinyl chloride resins, acrylicresins, and the like without detracting from the employment of thedevice for the purposes herein mentioned.

It will be observed that the putting practice device 10 is formed in adome-shaped, cross-sectional configuration. Forming of the device in"such manner provides a generally self-supporting physical structure. Asnoted above, the materials employed in forming the device 10 are verylight for maximum portabiilty. `lt will be ap preciated that if thedevice were fiat in nature, such as is the starting sheet, that thebearing loads would be resisted at normal frame engaging points `at ornear the ends of the sheets. The characteristic bending moments inherentin fiat, load-bearing sheets is not present in the domed lconstructionof the present invention. The load is re* sisted in compression ratherthan bending. The compression charactenistics of the materials notedexceed by a ysubstantial margin the bending or flexure characteristicsof said material.

While We have shown and described a specific embodiment of the presentinvention, it will, of course, be under stood that other modificationsand alterntive constructions may be used without departing from the truespirit and scope of this invention. We, therefore, intend by theappended claims to cover all such modifications and alternativeconstructions as fall Within their true spirit and scope.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States is:

1. A golf practice device for practicing putting technique, saidpractice device comprising:

a base portion;

an elevated portion rising in gradually sloping fashion from said baseportion, said elevated portion comprising first and second raisedlio-bes joined by an intermediate raised portion;

a depression formed in said tirst lobe, said depression simulating thehole in a putting green;

.a gradually sloping first recess formed in said second lobe andextending continuously on one side thereof down lthe gradually slopedportion of said second lobe `to the base and on the other side thereofthrough the intermediate raised portion to the depression, saidcontinuously formed recess defining a first guiding channel for a golfball;

a second recess extending continuously down the gradually sloped portionof said intermediate raised portion said recess extending from the baseportion to said depression and defining a second guiding channel for agolf ball;

-a third recess formed in said first lobe and extending continuouslyalong kthe gradually sloped portion of said rst lobe, said third recessextending from the base portion to said depression and defining a thirdguiding channel for a golf ball; and

Aa fourth recess extending continuously along the face of said slopedportion opposite that of said second guiding channel, said fourth recessextending from the base portion to intersect said first guiding chanfgehend defining a fourth guiding channel for a golf a 2. A golf practicedevice comprising:

a base portion;

an elevated portion rising from said base portion, said elevated portiondefining a generally domed, crosssectional configuration and havingatleast a first and second raised lobe portion;

a depression formed in said first lobe ,said depression simulating thehole in a putting green;

a gradually sloping rst recess formed in said second lobe and extendingcontinuously from the base portion along the rising portion and thesecond lobe to said depression, said continuously formed recess defininga first guiding channel for a ball;

land a second recess formed in said first lobe and extending from thebase portion to said depression along the rising portion of said firstlobe and dening a second guiding channel for a ball.

References Cited in the le of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 25,751 GreatBritain Aug. 20, 1914

